Mr. Speaker, first of all, I want to sincerely thank the Prime Minister for taking the time today to make a statement in the House. That is greatly appreciated. We also greatly appreciate him taking the time to hear all of the speeches by the leaders of each party.
I would also like to congratulate the men and women of the Canadian forces who will be called into action. While we in parliament are about to begin our break, the men and women of the Canadian forces assigned to the KFOR will not be getting any break.
I should however point out a number of elements that merit consideration and solution as well, I hope. There have been some slip-ups in the way this House was involved right from the start of this conflict. Parliament ought to have taken a vote and held a real debate. Unfortunately, it did not.
That did not keep us from supporting the government's position, but I believe the government needs to learn some lessons from this. I hope that the situation will never be repeated, but should another armed conflict arise, I hope that the government will realize, as I said in the first debate when this conflict started, that the parliamentarians here are the best tool of the government. The best allies of the government are here in this House. I trust that the government will bear this in mind next time.
Nevertheless, parliament could have got involved much earlier and gradually more as the conflict unfolded.
Canada, as a member of NATO, may have won the war, as it were, but this is the first time Canada has been at war without a UN mandate since the second world war.
The Korean war was fought under a clear mandate by the United Nations. The Gulf war was fought under a United Nations mandate. Ever since that organization was created, all engagements by this country's peace forces since the end of the second world war have been by UN mandate. This is the first time Canada has ever been at war without any UN mandate.
Canada's credibility since the second world war needs rebuilding. Its credibility as a peacekeeper, as a vehicle of conciliation, and as one of the best channels for diplomacy and political solutions, has taken two beatings.
Canada's credibility as a peacekeeper needs to be restored, as does the credibility of the UN, which failed to foresee the strikes and to provide solutions.
This is not the first time there is war in the Balkans. Never was the UN involved, until afterwards. The international community was not involved in Slovenia or Croatia. There was also Bosnia, where 250,000 people died before the international community decided to get involved.
Unfortunately the history of the Balkans is riddled with serious problems. Did we take specific action in this country to try to find solutions ahead of time? Reports of both governments—Conservative and Liberal—said, when the Dayton treaty was signed, that the next problem in the Balkans would be Kosovo. They knew it.
The Department of National Defence knew it. It had specific reports. Canadian soldiers and observers have been in Kosovo for a long time. They knew what was happening, but nothing was done about it.
Montenegro is another place in the Balkans where problems may arise. It is clear in the agreement that was signed—we hope it was clear—that the Serbian army cannot leave Kosovo and move into Montenegro in order to topple the government there, which has NATO's support. The Montenegro government requested an international force there. It did not work.
The agreement signed excludes the presence of any international force in Montenegro. I hope that they will make every effort to ensure there are no more dead in the Balkans.
I hope that Canada will again assume its role as a leader in diplomacy and peace, and not as a leader in war. I hope that this will happen very soon.
We also salute the men and women going to Kosovo and we will pray hard for them. From the beginning of the conflict, and until June 3 in fact, the official position of the Canadian government was the disarmament of the KLA. Now, we know that what they have in mind is nothing more than demilitarization. Heavy arms will be taken away from Albanian KLA troops, but they will still be armed. We know that Canadian forces will be in the Kosovo region, where there is a very large Serb population. Canadian troops will therefore be at great risk.
We will continue to support the government. I hope that the government will continue to support the former mission, which I hope will still be valid, namely keeping the peace.
Going to war is easy. The war in Kosovo marks the first offensive war Canada has won, unlike the gulf war, which was not an offensive operation. Canada has won a war. Are there people celebrating in the streets? Is this the kind of war we are looking at now? Are people completely indifferent to what is going on?
All this bears thinking about. Let us resume our leadership of peace, not war.